VN's satellite sees 30 percent of capacity occupied

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam 's first telecommunication satellite, Vinasat-1, has to date had around 30 percent of its capacity used for commercial purposes and trial services.

Vinasat-1 went into orbit on May 22, 2008 and launched its services eight days
later, following the formal hand-over by manufacturer Lockheed Martin to the
investor, the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT).

In addition to domestic clients such as radio and television stations, oil and gas
businesses, telecom service providers, ministries and agencies, a number of
customers from Thailand, Singapore and Laos have utilised services provided by
Vinasat-1, said Le Thanh Nam, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Telecom International
(VTI), a subsidiary of the VNPT.

The 200 million-USD satellite is able to provide more than 200 digital television
channels and tens of thousands of Internet data transmission and telephone channels
via the two ground control centres in the capital city of Hanoi and southern
Binh Duong province.

The satellite's range is expected to cover Vietnam , Laos , East Asia , India
and Austria with a prospective life span of 26 years.

VTI had previously signed a training contract with Luxemburg's satellite
exploitation firm SES ASTRA, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Asia Broadcast
Satellite of Hong Kong, on business cooperation and the exchange of satellite
capacity, and another with the US 's Universal Telecom Services on the sale of
Vinasat-1 frequency bands.

The company is also negotiating with foreign partners on cooperation to offer
Vinasat-1-based services in the Asia-Pacific, including Thailand 's Thaicom and
Singapore 's Protostar satellite exploitation firm.

VTI said Vinasat-1 should be operating at full capacity within three years and is
expected to bring a return of its investment and start reaping profits after 10
years of operations.-Enditem